I am buying a house for cash in Colindale. I have resided for the last 15 years in Colindale. Conveyancing searches are exorbitant. As I know the area and road intimately must I have all the conveyancing searches?

Provided that you do not need a home loan, then all but one or two of the Colindale conveyancing searches are optional. Your conveyancer will 'advise', no-doubt strongly, that you should have searches completed, but he is duty bound to do this. Do take into account; if you are going to sell the house at a future date, it could be of interest to your future purchaser what the searches determine. There are plenty of instances where premises with no practical issues can still throw up unfavourable search results. A good conveyancing solicitor in Colindale should be able to give you some constructive guidance concerning this.

I am purchasing a right to buy a flat in Colindale. How practical is it for me to do the conveyancing?

Leaving aside the complexities and merits of DIY conveyancing in Colindale you will have to appoint a solicitor on your lender's conveyancing panel to look after their interests. Most people therefore find it easier to let the solicitor act for them and the lender. Furthermore there is minimal cost savings to be made in you doing conveyancing for yourself and another lawyer conducting the conveyancing for the lender. Please feel free to use the search tool to find a lawyer on your lender panel in Colindale.

Various online forums that I have visited warn that are the main cause of obstruction in Colindale conveyancing transactions. Is this right?

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published findings of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the top 10 causes of delays in the conveyancing process. Local searches are unlikely to be the root cause of delay in conveyancing in Colindale.

Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Colindale in advance of appointing conveyancers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the house. The surveyor advised that some banks tend not give a mortgage on such a property.

It varies from the lender to lender. Santander has different instructions for example to Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to call us we can check via the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Colindale. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.

Frank (my husband) and I may need to rent out our Colindale garden flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We used a Colindale conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any advice as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your previous Colindale conveyancing lawyer is no longer available you can review your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the premises. The rule is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to seek permission from your landlord or some other party in advance of subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet without first obtaining consent. The consent must not not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If your lease prohibits you from subletting the property you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord to extend my lease without success. Can I make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Colindale conveyancing firm to assist?

if there is a missing landlord or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the LVT to decide the amount due.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Colindale property is 27B Hillside in February 2010. the resulting premium, all other aspects of the valuation having been agreed between the parties was set at £8,250 This case related to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 70.25 years.